The wreck of the Arniston
The Arniston was built on the Thames in 1794. It was a cargo ship. It was a 53.8 meters long, 13.2 meters wide, 3-decked, and 3-masted English East Indiaman of 1498 tons. The ship was wrecked during a violent storm on the way back from Ceylon. (Sri Lanka) The ship was transporting British troops back from the Kandyan wars
The ship was loaded with cannons and was a perfect ship to bring soldiers home. Unfortunately, it did not have the right navigational equipment. This was considered not to be a problem as it was traveling in a convoy with other vessels. Between November 1794 and June 1813 the Arniston had already made eight successful voyages to India and China.
During a wild storm on the 30th May 1815, the Arniston lost sight of the other vessels. Visibility was a problem and captain George Simpson mistook Cape Agulhas for Cape Point. This was a fatal miscalculation.
Had the captain’s request for a new chronometer been heeded this could have been avoided. The ship traveled West and ran aground on a reef. Only 6 of the 378 people on board survived. So soldiers who survived the fighting still did not make it home. There were however a few survivors who sheltered in a cave and lived off some supplies that had washed ashore from the ship.
The sailors were discovered by a farmer’s son and they were then able to make their way back to Cape Town.
The nearby town of Waenhuiskrans was renamed Arniston and a museum was opened to display artifacts from the wreck. A lighthouse was also built to prevent any more disasters on the reef.
Diving down to the wreckage is possible.
